Tucker's revenge

Watson had gathered a team of men, three associated with
the council that would help in securing future donations and two
avid outdoorsman who had shown interest in the organization and
could lend tips to Watson after seeing the land first hand, he
would bring them on a scouting expedition of the town and
surrounding lands he was interested in. Watson's wheels were
turning.

The group of five men arrived on a November morning
around nine thirty they quickly caught the attention of the few
townspeople in the area.

They would use horses and buggies to survey the land with
maps in hand, so they secured transportation with the local
blacksmith Horace Clark, known as ugly Horace by the local kids,
because of the disfiguring scar on his facefrom a burn. Watson
was eager to share the news of why they were there with anyone
willing to converse with him, even Horace but he only drew stares
and grunts from the tallchiseled man. Most though were all
business and listened to the sales pitch out of courtesy but
didn't seem to care much.

The group was surprised by the emptiness of the town
after just being in the bustle of the city, the fresh air causing
a few coughs they looked around in amazement, no traffic no bus
boys at the station no congestion in the streets.

The men ventured out to the woods around eleven in the
morning Watson and the men quickly realizing that they would
likely have to stay in town for a night because the area was so
dense and expansive, they couldn't cover everything in one visit.
Watson was in awe of the place his creative juices were flowing
and he spewed his ideas out more and more both out of excitement
and zeal.

What about a horse and buggy transport from the train to
the camp?

How about a bus? I could use space in town for supplies
or an outpost... were some of his thoughts?

The news quickly spread throughout the small town about
the expedition, some in town were now curious, the group had
spent hours scouring the mountains and sparse trails they hiked
and road their horses for miles taking notes and talking, the
energy level was high but by sundown the men headed back to town
with a lot of ideas and information.

They would rent the entire upstairs of the Iron Ore Inn
for the night and planned to cover more ground the next day. They
mingled with a few town regulars in the barand discussedtheir
plans with many of them.

Dr. Jed Monika wasthere pounding a few brandy's,
theunofficial mayor of the town because of his title of doctor
and his education, there wasn't a government in place because of
its scarcity, but Monika would be the obvious choice to field
complaints until the appointed under sheriff in the area would
arrive.

The next morning they set out once again and rode the
countryside, they pointed out areas of interest for rock climbing
with all the huge rock formations and cliffs they rode near the
lake and talked of swimming and fishing.

Throughout the tour each man experienced seeing what they
thought was a person walking through the woods in the distance,
one short in stature and another taller, but no one would say
anything for fear of being laughed at because the figures would
quickly disappear. S

Suddenly at times they appeared to be standing
stillstaring at the group, with all the trees and branches and
thick brush, it could have been there eyes playing tricks on them
each men thought.

After a while and a few sightings, two men sitting on
their horses couldn't hold it in anymore

"Hey Jess, you seeing something like people walking
around out yonder" one man said

"Yes, Sam I thought I was the only one" the other said.
Then Jess turned to Watson

"Hey Bill does anyone live nearby here?"

"According to the records some guy Thaddeus Tucker has a
cabin about a quarter mile away from the property line", Bill
responded.

"Other than that its all state land we wouldn't be
encroaching on him why? You seeing things?"

Everyone let out faint laughs, but no one else mentioned
the sightings again.